


(It's Just) Face Paint

by HylianHarmony



Series: Linked Universe Fics [8]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Face Paint, Fluff, Gen, Humor, LU Anniversary Writing Competition, Picori Festival, Rigged Carnival Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 16:20:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30041388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HylianHarmony/pseuds/HylianHarmony
Summary: While taking a well-deserved break at the annual Picori Festival, Twilight catches a glimpse of the future.~Based on Jojo56830's Linked Universe AU~
Relationships: Time & Twilight (Linked Universe)
Series: Linked Universe Fics [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1344637
Comments: 4
Kudos: 84





	(It's Just) Face Paint

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic for a writing competition on the Linked Universe Discord. (And it won?! I'm still reeling!) The prompt was "Celebration" and the piece could not exceed 2000 words. (At 1953 words this is easily the shortest fanfic I've ever written. If you're familiar with my work, you'll know I don't typically do short. xD) 
> 
> Fun fact, the idea for this story came to me in the form of misheard lyrics. If you're curious, the song was "Made of Stone" by Daughter. I misheard the lyric "it's just face painting" as "it's just face paint, dear" and coupled with the melancholy music it spawned this idea. Enjoy!

"Winner,” the games master droned with far less enthusiasm than her position warranted. She gestured vaguely to the prizes on display with her golden bell. It seemed to grow heavier in her hand with each victory.

Poorly concealing his mirth behind a smile, Twilight pointed to a stuffed bear. The heavy-set woman all but chucked it at him, and he passed the toy to an ecstatic little girl.

“My turn!” Wild said, stepping up and slapping down a yellow rupee.

The children cheered, well aware of the implications of Wild’s turn. The woman grunted as she swiped the money and replaced it with ten arrows, just as aware.

“Three at once…” Wild considered, nocking the arrows and tilting his head to the side. “Or…” He added two. “Five at once?”

“Five at once!” came the giddy reply from the gathering of school-age children.

“Five!” Hyrule echoed, and Twilight agreed with an enthusiastic nod, backing up to give Wild room.

The games master ducked behind her stand.

Smart. Unlike trying to scam children at a festival largely meant for them.

The group of heroes had landed in Four’s Hyrule at the tail end of the Picori Festival. Luckily for them, it seemed to be a twenty-four hour celebration, so even though night had long since descended the festivities were still going strong.

When he, Wild, and Hyrule had first stumbled upon the archery game, their only intention had been to show each other up. However, while waiting their turn, they couldn’t help but notice how unfair the game was to all the kids. The targets were set just far enough to be out of range of the typical draw strength of a child, which Twilight saw as especially diabolical since all the prizes were cuddly, stuffed toys.

Determined to teach the proprietor a lesson, the three of them decided to use their skills to destroy the game. Not literally. Twilight had to constantly remind Wild of this fact, as the boy was all too eager to replace the normal arrows with elemental ones…including the explosive kind.

He even attempted to start a fire at their feet for an updraft, but Twilight quickly stamped out that plan and offered him a boost instead. His cupped hands worked just as well to get Wild in the air, though you wouldn’t know it by how much he whined.

The children didn’t complain at all. They were overjoyed by the prizes and the entertainment alike, whether it came from Wild, Hyrule, or Twilight.

The scarred hero wasn’t the only one with tricks up his sleeve after all. The rancher’s and the traveler’s stunts of splitting arrows and long-distance shooting were just as impressive. ‘Rule even managed to score ten bullseyes with Twilight holding him upside-down.

As he watched his protégé perform, Twilight plotted his next turn. With the Hawkeye he could shoot from anywhere. How cool would it be if he shot all ten arrows from across town?

A meow interrupted his musings, and Twilight whipped his head toward the sound. People illuminated by the multi-colored lanterns strung overhead filled his vision. A balloon bobbed here. A child skipped there. No cats.

Twilight was about to write it off as his imagination when another mew met his ears. There! Between those buildings. He was sure of it.

Weaving through the crowd to investigate, Twilight peeked his head into the alley to find…

“Wind!” He laughed, ruffling the boy’s hair. “I thought you were a cat.”

“I am. See?” Wind pointed at his face where Twi could just make out black lines on his cheeks and a dusting of black on the tip of his nose.

“Right. So you’re embracing the alley cat life?”

Wind giggled. “Yup!”

“What happened to Time and Four?” Twilight wondered, peering into the shadows past the sailor for any signs of his companions. “You ditch ‘em?”

“Of course he didn’t,” Time’s voice rumbled from behind.

Twilight turned, expecting to see Time.

The Hero’s Shade stared back at him instead.

He recoiled with a gasp, heart stuttering to a stop in his chest and brain whirring. How? Why?  _ When?  _ It was too soon. Far too soon. Time didn’t even have a child yet unless Malon was…but no! She would have said something. Unless she didn’t know? They hadn’t visited Time’s era in a while, and the mail wasn’t exactly reliable.

Still. It didn’t make sense. They were at a festival; a presumably  _ safe _ festival. He’d seen Time not even an hour ago. Were they attacked? Why had an alarm not been raised, and who was  _ laughing _ ?

“His face! Look at his face!” Four cackled with glee, pointing and prompting the sailor to squeeze past Twilight to see for himself. “It’s already working!”

Time doubled over in laughter, and Twilight expected to hear bones clacking together.

“Relax, Pup.” Time chuckled, straightening and clapping a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “It’s just face paint.”

He did his best to school his expression into a light-hearted one. “Yeah, I know.”

But he also knew that someday it wouldn’t be. Someday, his ancestor’s face would be stripped of all its flesh, leaving behind nothing but bone.

“You didn’t at first!” Wind teased, poking Twilight’s arm.

“No, I didn’t.”

“The artist did a good job, huh?” Four added.

“Too good.” Twilight resented them for it. They had captured Time’s future immaculately. His scarred eye had been transformed into a black hole and deep shadows swirled around his other, threatening to consume it too. Each weathered ivory bone that made up his skull jutted out, making Time’s face look absolutely ancient. Gaunt.  _ Dead. _ All that was missing was his helmet and glowing red eye.

“Hey, guys—whoa! What happened to your faces? ‘Rule exclaimed as he and Wild joined them by the alley.

“Face paint,” Four explained, the colorful kinstones marching across his cheekbones stretching with his smile.

‘Rule scrunched up his nose, uncomprehending. “Why?”

Four shrugged. “It’s a festival thing.”

“It looks cool!” Wild said, eyeing Time and raising his slate to snap a picture. “You look just like a Stalfos.”

Time chuckled. “That’s what I was going for.”

“Why?” Twilight wanted to ask. What had possessed Time to get his face painted like a Stalfos? Did he know what terrible fate awaited him? Was he trying to make a joke out of it? Or were the goddesses trying to send Twilight a message?

“Do any of you know where Warrior is?” Four asked.

Twilight didn’t see why that mattered. There were much more pressing issues to address, like Time’s face and whether or not it was an omen of impending doom.

‘Rule had no such worries to contend with and answered easily. “I think he, Sky, and Legend said they were going to hit the café.”

“Oh gods! I bet he’s wooing ladies in there. This is perfect! Go, go, go!” Wind urged, frantically jostling Time’s arm to get the man moving.

“I bet he’ll scream louder than all the girls there,” Four reckoned with a mischievous grin.

The puzzle pieces clicked into place. “That’s why you did that to your face?” Twilight demanded, folding his arms to mask his shaking. “A prank? I thought you were an adult.”

“I thought the captain was too ‘till he filled my bedroll with bugs last week,” Time returned.

“He’s going to wet his pants!” Hyrule laughed. “Remember how much your Stalfos mask scared him?”

Time’s skeleton grinned eerily. “I do.”

“I  _ need _ to get a photo of his reaction this time!” Wild exclaimed.

“Come on,” Four urged, gesturing for them all to follow. “The café’s this way.”

Everyone charged after the smithy except for Twilight, and surprisingly, Time.

“So?”

Twilight forced himself to meet Time’s gaping eye sockets, doing his best not to shudder.

“Do I have your permission?” The question felt out of place coming from the Hero’s Shade. Twilight always regarded him as sturdy, stoic. Brusque in both manner and speech. He certainly didn’t need Twilight’s permission for anything.

Yet the lilt in Time’s voice was nothing like the skeletal warrior’s raspy monotone. It held life. Light. There was a playfulness to it, and when he squinted past all the black and white, he could see the same impishness in Time’s expression.

Twilight found his own softening. Time might regret a lot later in life, but something told Twilight he wouldn’t regret this. “Go ahead.”

Time patted him on the back before jogging after the others, calling for them to “Wait, wait, wait! Let me go first. Wind and Four, enter last, or you’ll give me away!”

Cracking a smile, Twilight followed.

The heroes were unbelievably fast when they had a goal in mind, so by the time Twilight reached the café, Warrior was already chasing the cackling pranksters out amidst a string of expletives.

“Old Man! I swear to the gods, I’m going to  _ kill _ you.”

Twilight flinched at the choice of words, but Time wasn’t bothered. “Lighten up, Captain. You always go on and on about keeping up morale. I figured I’d try my hand at it.”

“Not at my expense, you don’t!” the captain objected, waving his hands around like he couldn’t decide whether to use them to throttle Time or tear out his own hair. “You made me look like a complete fool!”

Legend scoffed. “Please, you did that all on your own. Or do I have to remind you?” In one smooth motion the red-clad boy leaped onto the base of a street pole and mimed cowering in terror. He raised his voice in a girlish falsetto. “Aiiiieee! Take them and spare my pretty face!”

“Shut up! I did not say that.” Warrior swatted at the veteran, who easily jumped, laughing, out of range.

“But you did look like that,” Wild piped up, waving his slate in the air.

“Wild, delete that now!”

“Never!”

Warrior made a swipe for the Sheikah Slate, but the champion proved faster, darting out of range and over to Twi. He was able to catch a glimpse of the captain, frozen screaming in terror atop a rickety-looking table, before Wild and his prized picture were chased away.

“We did you a favor!” Wind called after Warrior, hands cupping his mouth. “You had no chance with those ladies anyway. They’re  _ eons _ older than you!”

The sailor realized his mistake as soon as Warrior rounded on him. Not even Twilight could contain his amusement as the elder hero swept up the youngest and threw him over his shoulder. Four attempted to rescue him, only to meet the same fate.

Warmth blossomed in Twilight’s chest. For once, Wind and Four were smiling without a trace of trauma clouding their eyes. Time too, along with Warrior, and Hyrule, and Wild, and Sky, and even Legend, who he sometimes thought incapable of cheer.

Twilight wished he could bottle this moment, and a million moments like it, so Time would have them in the future. The Hero’s Shade had been so wrought with regret and despair, almost as if everything good in his mortal life had been erased. Maybe he needed help remembering. Maybe Twilight could help him preserve these memories, so he didn’t fall to fate.

Would that alter Twilight’s own existence? His victory over Ganondorf, even? He didn’t know, and later, as he watched Time wash off the paint, water dripping from his face like tears, Twilight found he didn’t care.

Time was precious to him. To Malon. To the rest of the boys. He had been through enough hardship. The goddesses had no right to torture him in death, too.

And they wouldn’t.

So long as Twilight had a say, the Hero’s Shade would always be  _ just _ face paint.

**Author's Note:**

> Bonus:  
> ~*~  
> Twilight thought the drama would be over once Time had washed that cursed paint off. He was wrong.
> 
> “Time!” Sky gasped. “What happened to your face?”
> 
> “What do you mean?” As soon as Time turned around, Twilight saw the problem. 
> 
> “Don’t freak out, but…your markings…” Twi began.
> 
> “They’re gone!” Wind finished with a horrified cry, his eyes blown wide as dinner plates.
> 
> Time swiped a towel across his face to rid it of excess water. “Of course they are.”
> 
> “What do you mean, ‘of course they are’?!” Legend demanded.
> 
> “They’re paint.”
> 
> “WHAT?!” Their collective cry of outrage shook Four’s home to its foundations.
> 
> “Excuse me?”
> 
> “It’s face paint?!”
> 
> Time tossed the towel over his shoulder and plopped down on a nearby armchair. “Always has been.”
> 
> “How did we never notice?” Four mumbled, hand on chin and brow furrowed. A vein stuck out on his forehead, and Twilight was mildly concerned the smithy’s brain was about to explode.
> 
> “Well you see, every other morning…”
> 
> “No,” Warrior wept.
> 
> Time continued as if they weren’t all having a mental breakdown. “I’m on last watch.”
> 
> “Old Man—”
> 
> “And while you boys are asleep, I touch up the paint.”
> 
> “You’re kidding,” Twilight deadpanned, knowing fully well his mentor wasn’t.
> 
> “Is that why all my make-up brushes keep going missing?!” Warrior demanded.
> 
> Time shrugged. “I will not confirm or deny.”
> 
> “So…” Wind’s scrunched up face made him look constipated, but Twilight was familiar enough the sailor’s expressiveness to know this meant he was thinking extra hard. He turned to Twilight. “Do yours come off too?”
> 
> “No!”  
> ~*~
> 
> Okay, that’s it. I’ve spent too long writing out this crack ending already. xD Thanks for reading!


End file.
